Tag: MMA Live 1

We’ve been off for a few weeks mainly due to logistical reasons, but we’re finally back with another episode of Ben’s mom’s favorite MMA podcast.

On this week’s episode weekend writer Seth Falvo joins us as we break down this weekend’s UFC 130 event and next weekend’s The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale. We also sit down with embattled former UFC welterweight contender Karo “The Heat” Parisyan, who talks about his heartbreaking loss to Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 last week in Canada, his haters, his thoughts on the media and his plans for the future.

The production company that filmed and produced the videos for last week’s MMA Live 1 event in London, Ontario, Canada are Cage Potato fans, and as such, they sent along the full video above of Thursday’s main event between Karo “The Heat” Parisyan and Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford for us to post exclusively on the site.

MMA promoter and renowned hypnotist Tony Lee attempted to put Jonny “Bones” Jones under his spell after the MMA Live 1 weigh-ins last week in London, Ontario Canada, but the UFC light heavyweight champ was having none of his mind games.

Jones pulled out of the trance before he got too deep and said he was very close to losing control of his subconscious to Lee’s suggestions.

Three weeks after his unsuccessful bid for the UFC featherweight title at UFC 129, Mark Hominick was in London, Ontario, supporting his Adrenaline Training Center teammate James Haourt at MMA Live 1. Our own Brian J. D’Souza caught up with the local hero to get his thoughts on his last fight and his immediate future. Some highlights…

On his performance against Jose Aldo: “[He's] one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and I wasn’t supposed to get out of the first round, and if there were 30 more seconds, I’d be wearing the belt right now. It was one of those fights that like, you go back to the drawing board and there’s a few things that could have changed, but I laid my heart out on the line, I laid it in the ring, I put everything into that fight and everybody who was there knows that, and everyone who watched the fight knows that…I almost had him finished in the fifth, and it’s just that the knockdown in the third kind of took the momentum I felt I was building, and kind of took the sail out until I had to come back in the fifth.”

In spite of the fact that message boards have been abuzz with how impressive the 28-year-old’s performance was Thursday night in London, Ontario, Canada, in spite of a disappointing doctor’s stoppage loss, after watching the fight Parisyan wants another crack at Ford.

“I did say I wanted a rematch. First and foremost going into the fight I felt great and everything was fine and I was controlling the fight until the last moment [when] I caught an unfortunate knee. Wherever they can put together this fight, hopefully he takes the rematch and I would love to take it and fight him again,” Parisyan told CagePotato.com Sunday. “And I will prove to everyone that Ryan Ford didn’t beat me and the knee and the cut didn’t beat me either. I’m so upset. Let Ryan come out and take a rematch. He told me he’d give me a rematch when I was getting into the back [after the fight]. I said, ‘Give me a rematch. You know you lost this fight. You were losing the fight and nothing was going to change.’ I’ve been in these wars all my life and I’ve always been able to pull out every freaking fight whether I was cut or tired or whatever it was or whether I was rocked. I wasn’t hurt and I wanted to keep fighting.”

On his initial decision to train with Greg Jackson: “I was watching his professionalism with Georges St. Pierre and a few other fighters, and I thought ‘man, if I could get all that brilliant energy pointed towards me, they probably could do something really special,’ and that’s what they’ve done I think…who knows what would have happened if I decided to [train] somewhere else, but Jackson’s seemed like the place for me. I remember our first meeting, they were talking about respect, and working hard, and family, and things like that, and that was something that drew me towards them.”

If there was any question as to whether or not Karo Parisyan has turned a corner from his highly publicized battle with anxiety and painkiller abuse, he answered it with his showing against Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 in London, Ontario Canada last night.

Logging what was arguably his best performance of the past three years, Parisyan took the two opening rounds of the bout utilizing his flashy judo and ground control and was looking good in the opening minute of the third when Ford connected with a stiff knee to the crown of the Armenian judoka that opened up a nasty cut and left the mat soaked in blood. When Parisyan slipped in the puddle of blood, veteran referee Yves Lavigne called in the ringside physician who, after a few moments of deliberation, called the fight off, giving Ford the win via TKO at 1:26 of round 3.

All of the fighters scheduled to compete on Thursday night’s MMA Live 1 card set for the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario, Canada made their respective contracted weight limits except for two, who hit their marks the second time after an hour in the sauna.

Main event participants Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford (169.4) and Karo “The Heat” Parisyan (171) shared a private conversation during an intense staredown, which concluded with the two welterweights exchanging a pat on the back and a smile, breaking the tension in the room.

(There’s no quit in MacGrath, which should make for a barnburner against Aurelio Thursday night – PicProps: TopMMANews)

Matt MacGrath’s biggest weapons might just be his drive and determination.

Much like how he doesn’t let his full time job as a chef and obligations of being a father and husband prevent him from training twice a day, the 31-year-old New Glasgow, Nova Scotia native has never let his status as an underdog prevent him from winning fights he was picked to lose.

A typical day for MacGrath starts at around 4:00 am when he gets up to get ready for work at 5:00 am at the provincial Board of Health in Prince Edward Island. When he gets off at 1:00 pm, he heads home for a brief rest before heading to hone his skills at one of several gyms he trains at to work . Depending on his work schedule the next day, he may make the four-hour trek to his main camp at Titans MMA in Halifax, Nova Scotia. If he has to work the following day he may opt to work out closer to home in the afternoon and evening with family time sandwiched in between training sessions. He says it’s a lot of work balancing work, training and family, but he feels that the sacrifices and perseverance will pay off sooner than later.

With the last chapter of his life and his career behind him, the 28-year-old who overcame a highly publicized battle with painkiller abuse and anxiety is hoping that the headlines about his personal and professional struggles the past three years will eventually become footnotes in his life story rather than the main subject.

“When I put my life story out about all of the sh*t I’ve been through and everything that’s happened to me, even my parents will be like, ‘Oh my God,’ when they read it. They don’t even know the half of it.”

Page one of the new chapter of Parisyan’s story starts Thursday night in London, Ontario when he squares off with highly regarded Canadian welterweight Ryan Ford at MMA Live 1 and he says the main difference this time around is that he’s writing the story for himself and not for others like he’s been doing his whole life.

“I’ve been through hell and I’m still on the way back home. I hope people can understand and not judge me for the mistakes I made. I’m doing this for myself. I’m tired of worrying about this person or that person. My family always has my back, but I need to look after myself. I want to get out there and do this for me so I can feel good about myself again. I used to think a lot about what everybody thought about me and now I don’t care. I’ve been training since I was eight years old and competing as long as I can remember and I got burnt out,” Parisyan recalls. “I let the pressure get to me. I had the pressure of representing my friends, my family, Armenians, judo etc…etc. What I realize now is that except your age, what goes up must come down, so you need to not let every little thing get to you because that’s when the pressure will eat at you until you break.”